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A QUIXOTIC CATALOGUE

In Other Words Book Club reads Leo the African > MARCH 23

ABOUT THE IN OTHER WORDS BOOK CLUB

The members of the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) in Toronto are pleased to be hosting their 2016 European Book Club Series, “In Other Words” at Type Books.

In Other Words will focus will on authors who have migrated and adapted to a different country, writing in the new languages of their adopted homes. The goal is to introduce Canadians to European books and authors by bridging cultures and allowing readers to discover contemporary European authors and their works.

EUNICis the network of the European cultural relations institutes in Toronto and is formed by Alliance Française and the Consulate general of France, Camões Toronto, Italian Cultural Institute and Goethe-Institut Toronto.

ABOUT LEO THE AFRICAN BY AMIN MAALOUFFrom his chlidhood in Fez, having fled the Christian Inquisition, through his many journeys to the East as an itinerant merhcant, Hasans story is a quixotic catalogue of pirates, slave girls and princesses, encompassing the complexities of a world in a state of religious flux. Hasan too is touched by the instability of the era, performing his hadj to Mecca, then converting to Christianity, only to relapse back to the Muslim faith later in life.

In re-creating his extraordinary experiences, Amin Maalouf sketches an irresistible portrait of the Mediterranea world as it was nearly five centuries ago - the fall of Granada, the Ottoman conquest of Egypt, Renaissance Rome under the Medicis: all contribute to a background of spectacular colour, matched only by the picaresque adventures of Hasan's life.